Which brand tyre - i know size - GV

[fordy1]

Hi All

i have decided to go with the 225/75/16s on the old GV but i am looking far and wide for a good tyre, i do mostly on road but i do go hard off and i wanted somthing that works well in all conditions and still looks like a 4wd tyre

i like the cooper st and the bfg allterain plus i had firestone rmts on the old vit

any thoughts??

thanks

[Gwagensteve]

Goodyear MTR?

Oh, isn't 225/75/16 an uncommon size and pretty much only firestone, BFG and cooper do it?


Steve.

[fordy1]

thanks mate, i just had a look at the mtrs and they look good, intersting to know how they are on the road? ( they do come in the right size )

[murcod]

Pirelli make the Scorpion A/T in that size. They seem like a good option going by some magazine reviews.

http://www.pirelli.com.au/web/catalog/c ... _desc.page

http://www.4wdmonthly.com.au/tips_tyres.php

If you're after something good on road then IMHO any of the "tougher looking" tyres won't be what you're after. Have you thought about a second set of rims and running a set of road tyres for daily use and getting proper M/T tyres for offroad stuff?

[Rockwolf]

I can't speak for Scorpion A/T's on a Vit, but on Tritons the Missus' family swears by them. One set's got over 150k km's on them, including a round-australia trip, and still have some tread left.

Murcod, very interesting reading. Thanks.

[fordy1]

thanks guys but i need the tyre to at least look like a 4wd tyre but still be good. ( car is for my buisness )

i have been searching and i have found eldorado tyres and the trail cutter ms tyres look the goods

http://www.eldoradotire.com/downloads/

[alien]

im running cooper stt's (see images in link below) - on road they are dead quiet, literally cannot here them over the wind noise (80km/hr, engine running, foot on the clutch coasting)... they grip better than my cooper H/Ts did in the wet, and offroad theyre amazing - went through some really slushy mud and they didnt clog up at all.

All this said, theres been complaints by people with heavier vehicles about tread wear... but mines doing great, and i run them at 20psi on road (31's).

[murcod]

thanks guys but i need the tyre to at least look like a 4wd tyre but still be good. ( car is for my buisness )

Well get a second set of rims and claim it on your tax!

[Moph]

Cooper STT's and Goodyear MTR's seem to run pretty close on performance both on and off road. Only reason I chose MTR's over STT's was that I found a lot of discussion re poor sidewall performance of STT's (staking / slashing). Although neither tyre is a cross-country tyre - both will stake pretty easily vs a cross ply.

The 235/75R15 Goodyear MTR's I have are great onroad - quiet and perform well.

I think you'd be happy with either.

[bendev]

I was thinking of Kumho KL71 in a 225/75-16.
Has anyone ever tried these out?

[alien]

Which STT are you referring to though? the standard older STT has more the ST pattern, the STT Armortek's have the 3ply sidewall, with the 3rd ply on the angle, so its tri-cross-ply... i've not heard of the armortek ones having issues with sidewalls.

[Longbaser]

Don't dismiss the Scorpion ATs so easily, fordy1!

They're good on Tritons too, eh Rockwolf?
I put a second-hand (75% tread) set on my LWB Sierra in 2002, replaced them with new Scorpions 2-1/2 years ago. Okay, they're not boulder-climbers or mud-sluggers, but a great all-rounder as they say. (Of course, Monster Tajima set a few Pike's Peak records on them but that's not exactly what we call 4WDriving).

Don't look like 4WD tyres?? But hey, they've got white lettering - and a mean looking white scorpion! Seriously, I just think they're very good tyres that are often overlooked because their tread does not look aggressive enough. Long wearing, great on bitumen, sand, gravel, but approach mud and rocks with brain in gear!

Okay, that's my 20c worth.

[murcod]

What are the Scorpions like on wet smooth bitumen- like when it just starts drizzling? I was going to get A/T's again, but value wet weather grip more than off road grip (for the rare times I go off road.)

My old Feroza had Coopers A/T's- they were good, but as they wore they liked to slide around a bit in the wet I'm now leaning towards a full on highway tyre for that reason.

[Rockwolf]

Don't dismiss the Scorpion ATs so easily, fordy1!

They're good on Tritons too, eh Rockwolf?
I put a second-hand (75% tread) set on my LWB Sierra in 2002, replaced them with new Scorpions 2-1/2 years ago. Okay, they're not boulder-climbers or mud-sluggers, but a great all-rounder as they say. (Of course, Monster Tajima set a few Pike's Peak records on them but that's not exactly what we call 4WDriving).

Don't look like 4WD tyres?? But hey, they've got white lettering - and a mean looking white scorpion! Seriously, I just think they're very good tyres that are often overlooked because their tread does not look aggressive enough. Long wearing, great on bitumen, sand, gravel, but approach mud and rocks with brain in gear!

Okay, that's my 20c worth.

Murcod, apparently they're the ducks guts. Strong recommendation from the gf's old man - he refused to let her have anything but pirelli on her triton, for precisely that reason. She had ST's, he's got the A/T's.

Interesting rumour - ST's worn below 20% tread depth are apparently awesome on sand - though I haven't seen it in person. I can also confirm that their P6000's are a nice sticky tyre, too (not that they're much use on anything more off-road capable than the Vectra )

Longbaser, been through 4 sets on two vehicles over half a million kilometres - about to get a fifth, and they wouldn't use anything else. Once I pull my finger out, I'll be putting them on whatever I get, too.

Fordy1, I'm also confused. What do you mean by "got to look like a 4wd tyre"? Do you mean a ridiculously aggressive tread pattern that wouldn't look out of place on a buggy or mud racer? That means you'll be making serious on-road compromises, which you've said you don't want. Looking around here, lots of people recommend various MTR's as a good compromise, but for me they're too much of a trade-off towards off-road performance for my realistic use. You need to decide what you're really after - looks, on-road or off-road function.

Lindsay.

[fordy1]

well i run a small buisness and i take the gv 4wding and to show n shines to get the word out , so its time to put some decent tyres on that look like 4wd tyes but still do ok on the road


some good suggestions , thanks guys

i have been pointed towards general at2 - looks good to me

http://www.dynamictyres.com.au/files/97G00ZAB1E/AT2.pdf

[suzyted]

this size is the american version of 205r16 but a little smaller in dia but wider in the section width,very common amongst tyres that go into or come from america

[fordy1]

i have to admit the kumho are sexy but a but to extreme for me

[murcod]

some good suggestions , thanks guys

i have been pointed towards general at2 - looks good to me

http://www.dynamictyres.com.au/files/97G00ZAB1E/AT2.pdf

So you want a tyre with square shoulders and a bit of tread pattern up the sidewalls? Apart from that it's not any more aggressive than the Scorpion A/T.

I'm betting the Scorpion would be the better bet on sealed roads?

What sort of price are the General Grabbers? I've read some good stuff on their "UHP" H/T tyre, but you don't seem to see too many of their tyres much on 4WD's here?

[Longbaser]

Scorpions really are the duck's nuts on bitumen. Reasonably quiet and excellent handling, so long as you get the pressures right for the vehicle's weight. I run 24psi front and 20 rear, a little more in the rear when loaded, and aired down to 15 for soft stuff.

Very good on wet bitumen, though they will break loose under hard braking thanks to the light weight of the Sierra!

Cheers - Longbaser.

[senergy]

Cooper STT's!
I had BFG AT's on my Feroza and the STT's on my GV are 100% better on the road, in the wet, in the bush, in the mud.
BFG AT's used to slip all around on the road and I'm finding the STT's are much better on the road in the wet.
They are a bit noisey but thats what the stereo is for. I've done 15,000kms on them so far and they are wearing really well.

[bigzook1]

ive had BFG muds and cooper STTs and wouldnt piss on them. got MTRs now and would deffenatly get them again. good on road and really good off road. they will clog up in thick mud but the coopers and BFs will do the same i would deffenatly choose MTRs over the other 2

[murcod]

These have plenty of good write ups on the Yank website below : http://www.yokohama.com.au/ourtyres/tyr ... tyreid=204

http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?tireb ... +A%2FT%2DS

[ZX1990]

I've got the Cooper ATR's on mine they are wearing well, good grip all round (although haven't tried mud yet....) pretty quiet, but not sure if they have 'the look' you are after.....

[TheOtherLeft]

i have to admit the kumho are sexy but a but to extreme for me

So you want sexy but not too extreme (or too sexy for that matter)??? I would've thought since it's for shows etc you want them to be as sexy as possible.

Problem is that sexy tyres doesn't always equal good handling tyres.

I reckon the Kuhmo looks tops, but I'm not even sure they come in 225/75R16 as I've been looking for muds in the same size. The Kumho website seems to be down atm so I can't check.

[fordy1]

here are a couple pics

[TheOtherLeft]

I run Firehawks atm.

They're pretty good off road but them being 10-ply rated on my shorty GV are bloody bouncy. I would be a lot happier if they were 8-ply rated.

In the dirt/mud they go pretty well but I would prefer some sort of sidebiter on them.

[murcod]

a couple of those pics above show no siping in the tread blocks.

Should make for interesting wet weather driving on the bitumen.

[TheOtherLeft]

a couple of those pics above show no siping in the tread blocks.

Should make for interesting wet weather driving on the bitumen.

The Firehawks don't have siping in the tread but there's something I do in the wet (i.e. visibility down to 10m or so) that prevents loss of traction. It's called slowing down and driving to the conditions. Not a hard concept to grasp.

[alien]

theres a 2 lane roundabout near my place that in the wet in the zuk on HT tyres with little siping, i could go round in first gear nearly idling and i would drift across the lanes - it was insane!

My cooper STTs however i can now go around in 2nd at 40km/hr in the wet with no slip at all.... interesting that a tyre rated for 20% onroad performed better than the ones rated for 80%... lol

[fordy1]

i had the firestone on my old vit and found them great. i think you will have problems in the wet nomatter what tyre you have if you drive like a fool.